Veritas Software has introduced a North American channel program that allows resellers to register potential software and support sales with the company.

The opportunity registration program protects Veritas partners from losing procurements late in sales cycles to businesses willing to undercut

their prices. By registering prospective transactions, partners will qualify as the solution provider of record. As a result, resellers are able to earn an additional five per cent above their negotiated distribution discount. The five per cent discount will apply to incremental sales only.

Omer Gagnier, Canadian channel manager for Veritas, said the new initiative will allow partners to make long-term investments in sales opportunities with less risk.

“I come from the partner community,” Gagnier said. “It’s happened to all of us where you make the investment, you do the right thing and it comes down to a financial discussion.

“The deal might be given to the partner that hasn’t made the same investment you have. This way, we’re trying to protect partners and their\ investments into our accounts, and thus leverage the value that they offer,” he added.

Veritas, which does 80 per cent of its business through the channel, is looking to bring all of its authorized Canadian partners into the program. The company has three partnership levels in Canada: elite, premier and select, with partners divided into three sales regions – east, central and west. As part of the program, elite and premier partners will be eligible to offer support and maintenance renewals to their customers as a way of providing better service to their core clients.

Gagnier said the program as a whole is important because it encourages partners to keep the company up to date on sales opportunities – something that will benefit both parties.

“The opportunity registration program actually entices partners and our field to engage with each other through the complete sales process,” he said. “And that may just mean making us aware of the deal so that we can articulate their value and leverage each other a little more effectively.”

Brian Dilks, vice-president of Ottawa-based Kanatek Technologies, said most of Kanatek’s major partners already have a similar program in place. He thinks the program will benefit resellers who are willing to make significant investments in sales cycles.

“Sometimes a sales cycle can last several months,” he said. “And at the last minute somebody who hasn’t made those investments comes in with a cut-rate price because they haven’t made the investment. It’s not fair.”

“A registration program eliminates that because it locks us into the opportunity from an extra margin standpoint,” Dilks added.

When the program was first announced, Dilks said he was concerned Kanatek would lose some of it’s TSPP (Technical Support Program Partner) business. Kanatek is one of only six Veritas TSPPs in North America, and one of two partners who solve more than 95 per cent of calls on its help desk before passing them on to Veritas.

“Quite frankly, we were probably worried that it was going to take away from our TSPP business, but it doesn’t look like that’s going to be the case,” he said.